Hong Kong Refugee Protection Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4631 To temporarily suspend the diversity visa program, to designate residents of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region as Priority 2 refugees of special humanitarian concern, to provide special visas to highly-quali- fied residents of Hong Kong, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES SEPTEMBER 21, 2020 Mr. COTTON introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To temporarily suspend the diversity visa program, to des- ignate residents of the Hong Kong Special Administra- tive Region as Priority 2 refugees of special humani- tarian concern, to provide special visas to highly-qualified residents of Hong Kong, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Hong Kong Refugee 4 Protection Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:55 Oct 08, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4631.IS S4631 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4631 IS SEC. 2. TEMPORARY SUSPENSION OF DIVERSITY VISA PRO- 1 GRAM. 2 Notwithstanding sections 201(e) and 203(c) of the 3 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1151(e) and 4 1153(c)), the worldwide level of diversity immigrants for 5 each of the fiscal years 2021 through 2025 shall be zero. 6 SEC. 3. DESIGNATION OF CERTAIN RESIDENTS OF HONG 7 KONG AS PRIORITY 2 REFUGEES. 8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State, in con- 9 sultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security, shall 10 designate, as Priority 2 refugees of special humanitarian 11 concern, the following categories of aliens: 12 (1) Individuals who are residents of the Hong 13 Kong Special Administrative Region who suffered 14 persecution, or have a well-founded fear of persecu- 15 tion, on account of their peaceful expression of polit- 16 ical opinions or peaceful participation in political ac- 17 tivities or associations. 18 (2) Individuals who have been formally charged, 19 detained, or convicted on account of their peaceful 20 actions as described in section 206(b)(2) of the 21 United States-Hong Kong Policy Act of 1992 (22 22 U.S.C. 5726). 23 (3) The spouses, children, and parents (as such 24 terms are defined in subsections (a) and (b) of sec- 25 tion 101 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:55 Oct 08, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4631.IS S4631 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4631 IS U.S.C. 1101)) of individuals described in paragraph 1 (1) or (2), except such parents who are citizens of 2 a country other than the People’s Republic of China. 3 (b) PROCESSING OF HONG KONG REFUGEES.—The 4 processing of individuals described in subsection (a) for 5 classification as refugees may occur in Hong Kong or in 6 a third country. 7 (c) ELIGIBILITY FOR ADMISSION AS REFUGEES.—An 8 alien may not be denied the opportunity to apply for ad- 9 mission as a refugee under this section primarily because 10 such alien— 11 (1) qualifies as an immediate relative of a cit- 12 izen of the United States; or 13 (2) is eligible for admission to the United 14 States under any other immigrant classification. 15 (d) FACILITATION OF ADMISSIONS.—An applicant 16 for admission to the United States from the Hong Kong 17 Special Administrative Region may not be denied pri- 18 marily on the basis of a politically motivated arrest, deten- 19 tion, or other adverse government action taken against 20 such applicant as a result of the participation by such ap- 21 plicant in protest activities. 22 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF ADDITIONAL REFUGEE AD- 23 MISSIONS.—If the number of refugees admitted under sec- 24 tion 207 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:55 Oct 08, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4631.IS S4631 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4631 IS 1157) in a fiscal year is equal to the number of refugees 1 authorized to be admitted under such section, as amended 2 by section 6, 25,000 additional aliens described in sub- 3 section (a) may be provided refugee status under this sec- 4 tion. 5 (f) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.— 6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 7 after the date of the enactment of this Act, and 8 every 90 days thereafter, the Secretary of State and 9 the Secretary of Homeland Security shall submit a 10 report on the matters described in paragraph (2) 11 to— 12 (A) the Committee on the Judiciary of the 13 Senate; 14 (B) the Committee on Foreign Relations of 15 the Senate; 16 (C) the Committee on the Judiciary of the 17 House of Representatives; and 18 (D) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 19 the House of Representatives. 20 (2) MATTERS TO BE INCLUDED.—Each report 21 required under paragraph (1) shall include— 22 (A) the total number of applications that 23 are pending at the end of the reporting period; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:55 Oct 08, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4631.IS S4631 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 4631 IS (B) the average wait-times for all appli- 1 cants who are currently pending— 2 (i) employment verification; 3 (ii) a prescreening interview with a re- 4 settlement support center; 5 (iii) an interview with U.S. Citizen- 6 ship and Immigration Services; and 7 (iv) the completion of security checks; 8 and 9 (C) the number of denials of applications 10 for refugee status, disaggregated by the reason 11 for each such denial. 12 (3) FORM.—Each report required under para- 13 graph (1) shall be submitted in unclassified form, 14 but may include a classified annex. 15 (4) PUBLIC REPORTS.—The Secretary of State 16 shall make each report submitted under this sub- 17 section available to the public on the internet website 18 of the Department of State. 19 (g) SATISFACTION OF OTHER REQUIREMENTS.— 20 Aliens granted status under this section as Priority 2 refu- 21 gees of special humanitarian concern under the refugee 22 resettlement priority system shall be considered to satisfy 23 the requirements under section 207 of the Immigration 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:55 Oct 08, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4631.IS S4631 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 4631 IS and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1157) for admission to the 1 United States. 2 SEC. 4. WAIVER OF IMMIGRANT STATUS PRESUMPTION. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The presumption under the first 4 sentence of section 214(b) (8 U.S.C. 1184(b)) that every 5 alien is an immigrant until the alien establishes that the 6 alien is entitled to nonimmigrant status shall not apply 7 to an alien described in subsection (b). 8 (b) ALIEN DESCRIBED.— 9 (1) IN GENERAL.—An alien described in this 10 paragraph is an alien who— 11 (A) on June 30, 2020, is a resident of the 12 Hong Kong Special Administrative Region; 13 (B) is seeking entry to the United States 14 to apply for asylum under section 208 of the 15 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 16 1158); and 17 (C)(i) had a leadership role in civil society 18 organizations supportive of the protests in 2019 19 and 2020 relating to the Hong Kong extra- 20 dition bill and the encroachment on the auton- 21 omy of Hong Kong by the People’s Republic of 22 China; 23 (ii) had an organizing role for such pro- 24 tests; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:55 Oct 08, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4631.IS S4631 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 4631 IS (iii) acted as a first aid responder for such 1 protests; 2 (iv) suffered harm while covering such pro- 3 tests as a journalist; 4 (v) provided paid or pro-bono legal services 5 to 1 or more individuals arrested for partici- 6 pating in such protests; or 7 (vi) during the period beginning on June 8 9, 2019, and ending on June 30, 2020, was for- 9 mally charged, detained, or convicted for his or 10 her participation in such protests. 11 (2) EXCLUSION.—An alien described in this 12 paragraph does not include any alien who is a citizen 13 of a country other than the People’s Republic of 14 China. 15 SEC. 5. REFUGEE AND ASYLUM DETERMINATIONS UNDER 16 THE IMMIGRATION AND NATIONALITY ACT. 17 (a) PERSECUTION ON ACCOUNT OF POLITICAL OPIN- 18 ION.— 19 (1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of refugee de- 20 terminations under this Act in accordance with sec- 21 tion 207 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 22 U.S.C. 1157), an individual whose citizenship, na- 23 tionality, or residency is revoked for having sub- 24 mitted to any United States Government agency a 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:55 Oct 08, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4631.IS S4631 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 4631 IS nonfrivolous application for refugee status, asylum, 1 or any other immigration benefit under the immigra- 2 tion laws (as defined in section 101(a) of that Act 3 (8 U.S.C. 1101(a))) shall be considered to have suf- 4 fered persecution on account of political opinion. 5 (2) NATIONALS OF THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF 6 CHINA.—For purposes of refugee determinations 7 under this Act in accordance with section 207 of the 8 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1157), a 9 national of the People’s Republic of China whose 10 residency in the Hong Kong Special Administrative 11 region, or any other area within the jurisdiction of 12 the People’s Republic of China, as determined by the 13 Secretary of State, is revoked for having submitted 14 to any United States Government agency a nonfrivo- 15 lous application for refugee status, asylum, or any 16 other immigration benefit under the immigration 17 laws shall be considered to have suffered persecution 18 on account of political opinion. 19 (b) CHANGED CIRCUMSTANCES.—For purposes of 20 asylum determinations under this Act in accordance with 21 section 208 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 22 U.S.C. 1158), the revocation of the citizenship, nation- 23 ality, or residency of an individual for having submitted 24 to any United States Government agency a nonfrivolous 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:55 Oct 08, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4631.IS S4631 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 4631 IS application for refugee status, asylum, or any other immi- 1 gration benefit under the immigration laws shall be con- 2 sidered to be a changed circumstance under subsection 3 (a)(2)(D) of that section. 4 SEC. 6. ANNUAL ADMISSION OF REFUGEES. 5 Section 207 of the Immigration and Nationality Act 6 (8 U.S.C. 1157) is amended— 7 (1) by striking subsections (a), (b), and (e); 8 (2) by redesignating subsections (c), (d), and 9 (f) as subsections (b), (c), and (d), respectively; 10 (3) by striking ‘‘Attorney General’’ each place 11 such term appears and inserting ‘‘Secretary of 12 Homeland Security’’; 13 (4) in subsection (b), as redesignated, by strik- 14 ing ‘‘subsections (a) and (b)’’ and inserting ‘‘sub- 15 section (a)’’; 16 (5) in subsection (c), as redesignated— 17 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking the para- 18 graph enumerator; and 19 (B) by striking paragraphs (2) and (3); 20 and 21 (6) by inserting before subsection (b), as redes- 22 ignated, the following: 23 ‘‘(a) MAXIMUM NUMBER OF ADMISSIONS.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:55 Oct 08, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4631.IS S4631 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 4631 IS ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The number of refugees 1 who may be admitted under this section in any fiscal 2 year may not exceed 50,000. 3 ‘‘(2) ASYLEES.—The President shall annually 4 enumerate the number of aliens who were granted 5 asylum in the previous fiscal year.’’. 6 SEC. 7. SPECIAL VISAS FOR HIGHLY-QUALIFIED RESIDENTS 7 OF HONG KONG. 8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi- 9 sion of law, the Secretary of Homeland Security, in col- 10 laboration with the Secretary of State, shall establish a 11 pilot program through which up to 30,000 points-based 12 immigration visas shall be made available each fiscal year 13 during fiscal years 2021 through 2025 for eligible Hong 14 Kong residents based on the points system set forth in 15 subsection (b). 16 (b) IMMIGRATION POINTS SYSTEM FOR HONG KONG 17 RESIDENTS.— 18 (1) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 19 (A) ELIGIBLE HONG KONG RESIDENT.— 20 The term ‘‘eligible Hong Kong resident’’ means 21 an individual who— 22 (i)(I) was a resident of the Hong 23 Kong Special Administrative Region on 24 June 30, 2018; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:55 Oct 08, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4631.IS S4631 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 4631 IS (II) has been a resident of the Hong 1 Kong Special Administrative Region dur- 2 ing the entire 60-day period ending on the 3 date on which he or she applies for a visa 4 under this section; 5 (ii) is a citizen of the People’s Repub- 6 lic of China; and 7 (iii) is not a citizen of any other coun- 8 try. 9 (B) ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY 10 TEST.—The term ‘‘English language proficiency 11 test’’ means— 12 (i) the International English Lan- 13 guage Testing System (IELTS), as admin- 14 istered by a partnership between the Brit- 15 ish Council, IDP Education, and Cam- 16 bridge English Language Assessment; 17 (ii) the Test of English as a Foreign 18 Language (TOEFL), as administered by 19 the Educational Testing Service; or 20 (iii) any other test to measure English 21 proficiency that has been approved by the 22 Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigra- 23 tion Services for purposes of paragraph (5) 24 that meets the standards of English lan- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:55 Oct 08, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4631.IS S4631 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 4631 IS guage ability measurement and anti-fraud 1 integrity set by the IELTS or the TOEFL. 2 (C) ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY 3 TEST RANKING.— 4 (i) IN GENERAL.—Subject to clause 5 (ii), the term ‘‘English language pro- 6 ficiency test ranking’’ means the decile 7 rank of the applicant’s English language 8 proficiency test score, when compared with 9 all of the other people who took the same 10 test during the same period. 11 (ii) ADJUSTMENT.—The Commis- 12 sioner of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration 13 Services, in consultation with the Secretary 14 of Education, may adjust the decile rank 15 of an applicant’s English language pro- 16 ficiency test score if the number of people 17 taking such test is too small or unusually 18 skewed to make such decile rank incon- 19 sistent with the decile rank the applicant 20 would have received if he or she had taken 21 the IELTS or TOEFL. 22 (D) HIGH SCHOOL.— [Text truncated for display. 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